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Disney Screenwriter Explains Why Calling Someone An "Anti-Vaxxer" Is The Same Thing As Using The "N Word"

It seems like there's not a week that goes by where we don't have an anti-vaxxer, or at least someone sympathetic to their cause, making ridiculous comments on the internet. And while most of the comments are outlandish, nonsensical, and even disturbing, the latest "anti-vaxxer support" comment is without a doubt the most assinine and offensive of them all.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, while Disney's latest feature-length animated film Ralph Breaks the Internet was ruling the box office, one of the studio's former screenwriters broke the internet himself when he decided to respond to a tweet poking fun at anti-vaxxers with a tweet that included a racial slur in his defense of parents who opt to not vaccinate their children.

In a since-deleted tweet (aren't they all), Pirates of the Carribean and Alladin screenwriter Terry Rossio had the following to say about the treatment of the anti-vaxxer movement (via The Hill) (we censored the actual word below):

"My heart goes out to all the parents of vaccine damaged children, who have to not only endure the sadness of their loss, but also the vitriol of ill-informed and insensitive people (such as those here). Anti-Vax is equivalent to calling someone a [n-word] and makes as little sense."

Rossio posted the unfortunate tweet in response to a plea from The 100 writer Julie Benson, who shared the following tweet advocating making donations to organizations that provide vaccines for children around the world:

It wouldn't take the smartest person in the world to know that the backlash to Rossio's tweet was fast and furious. It got so bad over the weekend that Dictionary.com's official Twitter account had this to say:

The n-word is so profoundly offensive that a euphemism has developed for those occasions when the word itself must be discussed.

It only took Rossio three days to issue an apology and to explain his rationale behind using such an offensive word. In the three-part Twitter apology, Rossio explained that that he "referenced" the word as an example of "what not to do," but it looks like that plan blew up in his face.

Rossio also stated that he wil continue to "stand against hate speech and dehuhmanizing lables(sic) in any form."

The full apology can be read below:

(3 parts)In a recent Twitter post, arguing against stereotyping and hate speech, I referenced the 'n-word' (the actual word) as an example of what not to do.

That was a mistake. I am sorry.

I now understand that the word has no place in any conversation, ever.